The present invention relates to vehicle entranceways and exitways and, particularly, to stowable ramps associated therewith for facilitating the passage therethrough of wheelchairs and persons unable to negotiate one or more steps up into the vehicle.
There has long been a need for an extendible ramp at the entranceway of a motor bus, for example, over which a wheelchair passenger or other handicapped person might traverse in entering or leaving the vehicle at a bus stop. Several years ago, Donald L. Manning was granted U.S. Pat. No. 4,131,209 covering such an extendible ramp device. Mr. Manning and the inventor of the present device also filed a joint application Ser. No. 831,305 Vehicle Entrance Ramp on Feb. 20, 1986 now U.S. Pat. No. 4,685,858 as an improvement over Mr. Manning's earlier patent.
A potential problem exists with the earlier ramp devices in that a failure of the ramp actuating power mechanism could disable the ramp from being extended or retracted. It is apparent that if the ramp cannot be retracted the vehicle could not be driven. Likewise if the ramp could not be extended it could be difficult to disembark wheelchair passengers.
The present invention relates to a disconnect device which enables the ramp to be manually retracted or extended in the event the ramp actuating power mechanism becomes inoperative. More specifically, the device of the present invention disconnects the power driving mechanism from the ramp enabling the latter to be manually actuated.